Happy Scrappy thoughts.

This is going to be a stressful week, the HOF winners are announced this Friday - and yes I did enter. I know that a lot of people did not, with all the bad feelings concerning how Creating Keepsakes handled this last years contest. But I have entered for 4 years now and love each and every one of my entry layouts, contests seem to bring out the best in me creatively. And if I don't win this year I am sure I will try again next year, it's almost like a tradition for me. So please send me your happy scrappy, good vibes this week, I am going to need them! Will try to distract myself as much as possible, and on the bright side if the call does not come, I can finally share all my entry layouts with you! :) Have a great Monday and here is a Cocoa Daisy April sneak peek:

April project kit!!!!

Welcome Spring! I created this welcome spring banner using a Maya road sheer crown album, Heidi Swapp ghost butterflies, the new American Crafts Spring/Summer rub-on set, and some yummy papers and other goodies! It is so bright and cheery hanging in my house. As always the kit comes with a set of full instructions and photos. Available at Cocoa Daisy on April 1st. Happy Friday everyone! We are off to "fun night" at Nate's school!

Easter fun!

We had a very blessed Easter! Dinner was at our house this year, and because of the size of the group we had it in the garage. I dressed it up with some decorations:



The boys dived into their Easter baskets first thing in the morning:



As for a nice family Easter picture - ha, not going to happen! By the time we got back from Church the boys hair was a mess and Zach would not sit next to Nate. So this is as good as it gets. Hope you all had a wonderful Easter too!

another March CD layout

This has been a crazy week, lots of creative projects I am trying to get done (some you will not know about for a long time wink wink) and we are hosting Easter dinner this year, so I am trying to get a lot of decorations ready so spruce up the garage - yes we are going to eat in the garage! We did Thanksgiving in there and it worked perfect! The garage is heated and finished so it cleans up pretty nice. I promise to post some photos Sunday night.
I have done some Creative Cafe projects, but they have all been "prototypes" for the Art Bar so I am sorry about not having anything from them to post yet.
I did this layout for the March Cocoa Daisy newsletter.
Happy Friday everyone!

going (very) RED!

I had my hair done this last Saturday and my hairdresser suggested a deep red on the bottom and a lighter on the top layer, I always have a touch of red in my hair so I told him to go for it. I am very happy with how it turned out, I was not to thrilled with Nate's comment when I came home though: "Mom, my favorite color is orange, I really like it!" Thanks son!!



I also found this very cool jacket at Target - only $34.00!! Love the dark denim!!!


Happy Tuesday everyone!

RAK winner/finding time to scrap

And the winner is.......

Nate picked you Nicole! Please email me your address so I can send you off some goodies! cjdrumeller@centurytel.net

Sharie asked me this question:

" When do you get your scrapbooking projects done? Do you have a specific time set aside each day? Juggling time is my biggest challenge!"

This is a good question, I think it is one of the hardest parts of this hobby we all share, finding the time to do what we enjoy doing, and it can be a challenge! I usually get about an hour to an hour and a half each day - this is while Zach takes his nap in the afternoon (if he takes his nap!). The days that Nate is home from school he gets to play his video game while Zach naps so that keeps him occupied. I don't scrap at night very much, I am just to worn out by the time the kids get in bed. I will stay up and scrap though if I need to get something finished. There are many days that I don't have time to scrap, but I almost always take a few minutes each night to either sketch a layout, write some journaling, or pick out photos, that way when I do get the time I have a lot of the work done already.
What am I going to do when Zach stops napping - I have no idea! (Hoping that with no naps Zach will either sleep in later - so I can scrap in the early morning, or will go to bed earlier - and I will have to start scrapping a couple nights a week).

I do think that you have to try to find a few minutes to yourself each day - and NOT FEEL GUILTY about it! When I have that hour each day, it's like recharging my batteries, I feel happy and less stressed, and that is a good thing for me and my family!

Have a great week everybody!

I have been busy...

promise to draw a winner for the rak tomorrow!

Celebrate with me!

I cannot believe it but I have had just short of 10,000 visits to my little 'ol blog! I am so thankful I have an outlet for my creative energy and I am so happy to share it all with you, and I want to say thank you to all the people who stop by my blog and say hi. I have been setting aside some fun new scrap goodies and a special card that need a new home! I will pick a name out of the comments left on this post in a couple days. So leave me a comment or even ask a question - I would be happy to answer them!

Just finished this one yesterday, the journaling reads:
It's the imperfect photos I love the most, they are the ones that show the small nuances that are close to a mother's heart. The dimple in your chin, the "pudge" of your neck and cheeks. The bit of blur that shows how you are always in motion. Sure I love a crisp perfectly placed, well lit photo, and once in awhile I do get one. But for me it's these slightly off photos that make me want to scrap - to tell a story. I know when I look at this photo I will remember things that a full on smile shot just would not have conveyed. So I say - give me the real moments - even when the lighting is bad!

Have a great day!

March Cocoa Daisy.

March's Cocoa Daisy kit - just screamed boy and outdoors to me. Not to mention that owls and polka dots just go together like PB&J! The little "he said" notebook is for me to record all the funny things my boys say. Thanks for stopping by!

Prayers for Katie and her Dad.

Coincidence is something that I don't believe in - I think we have things happen in our lives - no matter how small they may seem - for a reason. If we keep our minds and our hearts open we see these connections very clearly. A couple days ago I received an email at two peas from another member named Katie, she had seen my valentine layouts and mentioned she was having a contest on her site and that I should go check out her blog for details, which I did, and while there I noticed her entry about her father having had a bad accident and that he was not doing well. My heart went out to her and her family, and I said a prayer for them. I had not gone back to check and see how they were doing, and then to my surprise I saw a photo and story of her dad on Danelle's blog - coincidence?- no just a gentle nudge that I need to tell her story too, and ask each and everyone of you that stop by my little blog to take a minute to pray for this family.

Snow fun!

We celebrated the late winter birthdays last week at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Along with all the great food the kids had some fun sledding. We have had so much snow here in Michigan, seems we have a winter storm every week. All that snow does make for some fun outdoor play though! Have a happy Monday!